BNG CASE STUDY
Key transport project for new Everton FC stadium unlocked with Environment Bank BNG
Developer: Merseytravel & Everton FC
Sector: Leisure & hospitality
Region: North West
LPA: Liverpool City Council
NCA: Merseyside Conurbation
Habitat Bank: Horwich Habitat Bank, Greater Manchester
Biodiversity Units:
- Grassland
- Heathland & shrub
About the development
With BNG provided by Environment Bank, Merseytravel were recently granted planning permission for a vital development project associated with Everton Football Club’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock in Liverpool.
This project involved the creation of a dedicated crowd management zone and staff welfare building at Sandhills Station, one of the new stadium’s most important public transport links and a central part of its sustainable transport strategy.
The ability to provide an off-site biodiversity net gain solution as part of this development has been particularly helpful given the on-site constraints, and we thank the Environment Bank for their assistance.
Efficient off-site BNG solution
After appropriately ensuring that the project’s biodiversity impacts were avoided or minimised wherever possible, and exhausting all avenues for delivering BNG on-site, the most viable option for achieving the required net gain effectively was to purchase off-site Biodiversity Units.
With suitable Biodiversity Units and BNG planning support provided by Environment Bank, Merseytravel was able to satisfy its BNG planning requirement and the essential development work could begin on-site.
Liability for delivering the BNG associated with these Biodiversity Units now sits entirely with Environment Bank, giving Merseytravel a clean break.
A huge thank you on behalf of Environment Bank to everyone at Merseytravel and Everton FC for working with us. We’re really pleased to have been able to play a part in such a notable development project. This example really demonstrates effective end-to-end BNG delivery in action, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
Large-scale environmental recovery in the North West
We supplied Merseytravel with Biodiversity Units from our 50-hectare Horwich Habitat Bank. This means that the BNG delivery for this project has directly contributed towards large-scale strategic nature recovery.
Environment Bank set up the Horwich Habitat Bank with local farmer Richard Pendlebury who was looking to safeguard the future of his family farm by diversifying his land income through BNG. Richard’s herd of native cattle are now being used to graze the Habitat Bank grassland sustainably, reflecting historic land management techniques that are better for our ecosystems.
The habitats are being carefully managed and monitored by Richard and our team of ecologists. Together, they’ll be ensuring that the land delivers its anticipated biodiversity gains, adapting the habitat management strategy wherever needed over time.
Our Horwich Habitat Bank is secured under a conservation covenant with RSK Wilding so its ecological integrity for BNG is verified by a responsible body. It is now also officially listed on the national biodiversity gain sites register so the Biodiversity Units from this Habitat Bank can be formally allocated to development projects for BNG.
It’s great to have our Habitat Bank linked to this fantastic new development at Bramley-Moore Dock. I have two good mates who are lifelong Everton fans and I’ll be mentioning to them that they now owe me a beer for helping in a small way to get this iconic stadium complex over the finish line! Joking aside, I look forward to visiting the stadium in the future – it will no doubt be a fantastic new facility for the blue half of Liverpool.
Find out the cost and availability of Biodiversity Units for your development